Dental Implants........Have any DU'ers had one? GACK...it's kind of gross

[KoKo]

and I wonder if they are successful........the pain...the wait.......the disfigurement....until it is finally "placed." UGH!!!

:shrug:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

1. I haven't heard too many good things. They don't necessarily take,

I hear. And really expensive.

[AlCzervik]

2. i have 2 plus some veneers, no problem with the install

and even if it would have killed i still would have done it. About 3 years ago i had a major dental restoration done, at least now i am able to smile without being self conscious.

[KoKo]

6. well...that's good news...no pain or stuff till your restoration?

:shrug:

[AlCzervik]

10. before i had all my dental work done there was a lot of pain

and discomfort so i was very surprised when i went to the first 2 major appointments and it didn't hurt, maybe my pain threshold is high but really it wasn't bad at all. The first big appointment last 4 hours but before i went i took a 800 mg motrin because i knew my jaw would be sore from having my mouth open for that long.

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. Wish I could

Looked into it and had some preliminary work done. I would've walked through fire for 'em, like chimpsrsmarter said. But if you can't afford it, you can't afford it.

[KoKo]

7. I know...Dental "price fixing." The costs have come down...but

it's still too expensive. Even the Dental Plans don't give enough coverage if you can't afford the monthly expense...and even then..the cost of the insurance can work out more than saving up if one can, for the procedure...

I know....

[Oeditpus Rex]

11. Oh, dog, I know

Even when I had insurance, it maxed at $1,000 per year for dental. :grr:

[KoKo]

13. Yep....that just about covers one measley crown.....with what they charge.

:-(

[Oeditpus Rex]

15. Yup

I had one that cost $900-something. Poof goes the insurance.

[AlCzervik]

16. we max at $1500 and that went so fast. My daughter just got another

pallet expander and is going for her second round of braces on 7/15, the ortho who i love has a pmt. plan, $524 down and $117 a month for the next 2 years.

[KoKo]

18. Maybe she will thank you for it, though....

My daughter had braces (when we had company dental insurance) and she's never forgiven us for it. :D.

Kids....can be very weird.... Anyway, she doesn't realize how crappy her mouth would look today if she hadn't had the braces.

We do what we do....:-)'s

[AlCzervik]

19. Hmm, i hope so. this is her second round for both the expander

and the braces. the first time was when she was eight, her mouth was just way too small her giant teeth so the option was pulling some or going the expander route, i decided not to have her teeth pulled because of the pain factor and i'd like her to have as many of her natural teeth as possible. So now she's almost 12 and going through the same thing all over again which we knew because her Dr. was very clear about it from the beginning but it still bums her out, you know the list of foods you can't have and so forth. Hopefull 2 1/2 years from now she'll have a big wide smile and confidence, that would be one less thing to worry about.

[KoKo]

21. Same thing with mine........

It was a long haul for her which maybe is why she's never forgiven us...but, as I said in the long run...the alternative would have been worse.

Good Luck....I know it's not pleasant what your daughter is going through...but pulling lots of teeth and having problems later in life isn't good either. You are doing the best for her..but I guess from her perspective it's rough...

[pitohui]

27. look into mexico, my husband did and he's v. happy

i won't name names since he had all of his teeth crowned rather than implants which is the question, but we learned that many older people get their dental care in mexico and the dentists who cater to americans offer v. fair prices and really great service

they have an implant center in tijuana, but ultimately we did not need to use it as his roots were healthy, i'd try to get references there tho if/when i ever need implants

i know, tijuana, bad rep for plastic surgery but they have some great and reputable dentists and eye doctors

[MissB]

4. Very successful here.

My dental hygenist has problems figuring out that there isn't a "real" tooth there.

It took awhile for me to get used to chewing with the implant tooth. It is a different sensation.

[KoKo]

8. How so....could you give more info. Did it seem foreign to your mouth?

Were you worried about "breaking it off?" That's my worry and I'm not even to the point of "implant" yet. The Dentists make it sound so great...but even with the research I've done...I'm not so sure. Still the alternative is kind of bad if one has a "social problem" with missing a "key tooth."

:-(

[MissB]

30. Well, your nerve endings aren't there

like in a "real" tooth. You have to get used to chewing with a tooth that has essentially no way of telling you that you are biting too hard. It doesn't take long, but it does feel weird for a few days/week. And the implants are designed with a breakage point, so if you do happen to break it, they can be repaired fairly easily.

I think it was a good choice for me.

[Radio_Lady]

5. Dental surgery below my gums to try and save a crown and bridge --

injured a major nerve in my face. I was in pain for four years.

Looked into dental implants decades ago and finally decided NOT to do it -- for molar (back) teeth, it's just too close to the nerves. Might be OK for front teeth. I went with a partial which has worked successfully for me for thirty years.

I hope implants have improved. We have a teenaged grandson who had a sled accident years ago. Luckily, he didn't hit his head or neck, but the accident knocked out several central permanent teeth. At age 18, they will want to do implants to perhaps restore his teeth. He's wearing a retainer with several replacement teeth now. I wish him well on this massive surgery.

[KoKo]

9. That's great you've done well with a partial.

I had a bridge (losing tooth as a kid) that finally just wore out one tooth and now there's nothing to hold onto. I avoided the "Implant Thing" for years.....but it's either "implant" or hiding my smile behind my hand....So...I'm stuck...with the extraction, graft and now waiting.

I think it's great that there are New techniques to save our teeth but the cost and expectations and the pain and discomfort...for what may not work out are hard.

Thanks for your info.

[UncleSepp]

12. I have one, left upper incisor - no problems

The pain was no big deal, and I'm a weenie about dental pain. I got used to the "flipper" with the placeholder tooth pretty quickly, and actually went back six months late to get the final piece done because the flipper broke. The sensation, as reported upthread, is a little different when biting down - the implant tooth does not have the wiggle of a natural tooth. I'm very happy with mine.

Oh yeah. Why did I have to get one in the first place? Grade school dodgeball busted my permanent front teeth. Eventually, the cracks in the root and bone led to dead teeth, root canals, bone loss, and abscess. So yeah, that's the beginning and end of my little rant for people who think it's okay to encourage kids to throw things at each other.

[KoKo]

14. Thanks....your experience reminds me of Hockey Players who seem

to bust up their teeth pretty good in their game. But, I guess they can afford the Implants or don't care......when they smile. :D

Anyway, glad yours worked out.

[cobalt1999]

17. I have.

After a meeting a tree while skiing, I broke one of my front teeth below the gums. If it wasn't right out there, I probably wouldn't have done the implant.

It sounds more painful than it was. The wait until the bone grew around it sucked, but now that it is in place, I love it. It is slightly thicker in back than the other one, and as someone already posted, it feels a little different when eating, other than that no problems.

Go for it.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

20. I'm in the middle of my mouth healing from

getting all my top teeth pulled and my molures on the bottom, I'm getting a full denture for the top and a parcel for the bottom. I went this direction because I've known a couple of people who had the implants done who weren't happy with the end results. Plus I figure with the new technology I've heard about on denistry that in the next 5-10 years you will be able to regrow your teeth some how, which would be awesome if don't have implants in the way that would have to be taken out.

[KoKo]

22. We have to hope...new things are on the way....

I feel for you with what you are going through. From what I've read you can still opt for implant down the road and they can help secure dentures in some way.

I have a Great Uncle who had all his teeth pulled out when he was in his teens and he's now in his late 70's and never had a problem with his dentures. His wife didn't know he had dentures until he was in his 40's because he cleaned them when she wasn't around and never took them out, otherwise. :D He's never had a problem....

[Duppers]

23. just be sure you find a good implant specialist

Implants in no way disfigure you, IF you have a good specialist. They're a great way to improve your appearance, far better than bridges. Just make sure that if you have any problems, please go back to your implant specialist and do not let your regular dentist tighten the screw that may loosen over the yrs.
My regular dentist did and stripped the threads of the screw in the interior of my 14 year old implant last yr. The whole implant had to be removed. My implant surgeon had taken migraine medication the morning he took out my implant, and in the process of taking out the implant, he knocked out the interior wall of my jaw bone. I blame his meds. It's a long and painful story and I should see a lawyer. Any attorneys here? Comments?

It was a horrible experience, BUT I still recommend implants! I do!

PM me if you like.

[radwriter0555]

24. I had a friend who 12 years in rejected ALL her implants, which she'd had

done following a car accident.

So about 4 years ago, 12 years after her implants her body rejected them. She ended up losing jawbone, tissue and of course the $30,000 implants. She now wears dentures.

She's 45.

[pitohui]

28. ok but at least she had 12 years

radwriter is that story helpful? if you get dentures in your 30s, you lose jaw and bone, it sounds like she at least had a few more years than she would have had w.out the implants?

in fact, getting dentures causes bone/jaw loss even if you are 40 -- one reason why my husband opted to try to save his teeth instead of just yanking them -- and in his case it has been very successful knock on wood

[radwriter0555]

29. The point is that they don't last forever, even though they're labeled as

permanent. The rejection landed her in the hospital with a life threatening infection for almost a month... it was quite serious.

Rejection happens more often than the literature lets on and those who are considering it should do all the research they can to see if it's the right thing to do, especially considering that each tooth is a couple thousand each.

[Digit]

25. I learned my bone structure was too short to have any on top

At one time, I had the money, but did not have the bone stucture in my upper jaw. Something about a lack of space.

My old boyfriend's lower jaw was ALL implants from an accident, and they looked very normal. I would not have known it unless he told me.

[pitohui]

26. not me but a colleague

when they were first popularized i'm thinking around 1992 she had her entire LOWER jaw done

it changed her life and she was VERY VERY VERY VERY happy, i cannot stress how happy she was, it was unbelievable the change in her entire attitude

i had no idea that she was depressed from a lifetime of lower jaw pain, i just thought she had a very dark view of life until she suddenly started smiling and really seemed a different person

if you are a candidate, DO IT, i would in a heartbeat